K-pop is Overrated

K-pop. It has been one of the hottest sensations around the globe these days, shaking

industries and dominating the charts, while capturing the hearts of millions around the world, all

through song and dance. As an avid K-pop enjoyer , I am more than delighted that K-pop has

been globalized to such an extent, since I can now get hold of as many Straykids- I mean K-pop

merch as I can! (praise to e-commerce). However, Is K-pop really as glowy and morally bright as

it is seen, or are there harsher, darker truths hidden behind the scenes? Now, from here on, it

can start to get a bit controversial, but these are my honest opinions on k-pop, and how they

can be pretty detrimental to the innocent young minds of this society.

Firstly, I’m sure everyone knows K-pop is where they steal pretty faces from both the

girls and boys’ department to form eye-catching, tantalizing groups of visuals and talents, who

can not only dance and sing, but also SERVE FACE all at the same time. These people are the

creme da La creme, THe idols, the ones who stand on top, above the rest of us who can only

pay our way to see their faces...These people are glorified to be one of the best, as we shower

them with praises of gold. While albeit exaggerated, it is quite true. K-pop takes advantage of

recruiting young talents with top-notch visuals because humans appreciate beauty. Logically,

who would choose not to see something “beautiful” if they can? And now that there are groups

with awe-striking visuals, to say ‘not today!’ To them would be insanity. It’s like turning down an

offer to attend a visual buffet and then complaining about missing that opportunity. Now, if we

just merge beauty and talent together...They become irresistible. So then, what’s the problem if

K-pop promotes beauties who can sing and dance? Well, let’s first acknowledge that with every

head, comes a tail.

While K-pop can provide consumers entertainment, the unfair and ridiculously high

Korean beauty-standards, through the use of brain-washing technologies such as Instagram

and TikTok, can be ridiculously promoted to growing teens and youths who have zero survival

instincts. At the age of growth and maturity, right and wrong blurs and making a wise decision

sometimes prove to be incredibly difficult. With a widespread promotion of Korean beauty

standards set by beautiful K-pop idols, teens become entranced, and soon, the emotions of

admiration twists into the toxic yearning to become just like them. They start to look at their

faces, start to wonder why their eyes aren’t big enough, why their lashes aren’t long enough,

why their noses aren’t sharp enough... And their minds become captivated by the idea of

beauty. This results in an increase in the amount of makeup products used, a growing desire to

“fix” their features through plastic surgery and more attention spent on trying to “beautify”

themselves such that they can be as stunning as these idols. However, to wholly pin the blame

on youths’ desperation to become as maturely gorgeous on K-pop idols would be ridiculous, as

use of social media and its unfiltered contents promoting “glowing up” and other weird

beautifying trends can also result in the damaging effects towards youths’ mentality these days.

Even so, with the power of social media, a harmless idea of presenting k-pop idols onto the

global stage can be manipulated into this toxic inclination towards beauty in the youths, hence

leaving me adamant that these beauty standards promoted by k-pop idols are severely

damaging towards youths.

Next, money. As K-pop is served through different groups, their different “albums” each

represents a different “comeback”. This means that whenever a group is done with this concept of a certain album, they will rest for a while before returning with a different concept. For

instance, in 2023, Straykids had a “Maxident” album, in which their concept was about love.

Later that year, they returned with another album called “5-star”, presumingly about dragons and

modern city design. As seen, a “comeback” means a new album, with new songs and new

concepts. In order to profit off these albums, K-pop industries will sell an album containing a

photo book, photo cards, CD, extra goodies and a poster. However, these albums don’t come

cheap. As an avid K-pop Stan, I speak from personal experience, and maintaining such a

passion and trying to support my favourite group always results in financial deficits. Even so,

why do I keep buying their albums? It’s simple really, it’s because I want to support them. After

indulging in their countless content, I had formed an emotional bond with the members of the

group, and they became just like close friends, even though I have never seen them in real life.

This fuels a burning desire within me to buy their merchandise and support them, just because

of this psychological connection I have with them.

Honestly, this would not really be that big of a deal if we are able to control ourselves,

but we are talking about youths here. Youths, who again I repeat, rarely have a clear mind when

making decisions, and youths, who experience struggles and countless ups and downs while

navigating through their emotional teenage lives. When these youths experience these strong

feelings of affection towards a k-pop group, I am more than certain that they will splurge BIG in

order to chase that newfound interest of theirs. This results in an enormous amount of money

being wasted on new albums each year, lightsticks, different species of photo cards, concert

tickets etc. This can skewer their perception of money, leaving them unable to resist the

temptation of buying products and unable to differentiate between a “need” and a “want”, as well

as result in the negative consequence of overconsumption, which can negatively affect their

future, especially in an ever-changing world.

All in all, k-pop can be pretty detrimental to youths, whether physically or psychologically,

and its existence might just be more of a curse than a blessing. Even so, k-pop does indeed

bring about benefits towards youths, such as creativity and inspiration, relaxation amidst

tumultuous times and a sense of belonging. Hence, even though I know such issues are

present, I find joy and motivation from my ult group and honestly, I don’t think I will abandon

such a passion any time soon ( u see detrimental right???) but I Will see that I balance my life

properly with my passion such that its adverse effects avoid me like the plague. The end!!!

Yu Xuan

Secondary 4 Wisdom

2025